Norah Jones' debut on Blue Note is a mellow, acoustic pop affair with soul and country overtones, immaculately produced by the great Arif Mardin. (It's pretty much an open secret that the 22-year-old vocalist and pianist is the daughter of Ravi Shankar.)

Jones is not quite a jazz singer, but she is joined by some highly regarded jazz talent: guitarists Adam Levy, Adam Rogers, Tony Scherr, Bill Frisell, and Kevin Breit; drummers Brian Blade, Dan Rieser, and Kenny Wollesen; organist Sam Yahel; accordionist Rob Burger; and violinist Jenny Scheinman. Her regular guitarist and bassist, Jesse Harris and Lee Alexander, respectively, play on every track and also serve as the chief songwriters. Both have a gift for melody, simple yet elegant progressions, and evocative lyrics. (Harris made an intriguing guest appearance on Seamus Blake's Stranger Things Have Happened.)

Jones, for her part, wrote the title track and the pretty but slightly restless "Nightingale." She also includes convincing readings of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart," J.D. Loudermilk's "Turn Me On," and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You." There's a touch of Rickie Lee Jones in Jones' voice, a touch of Bonnie Raitt in the arrangements; her youth and her piano skills could lead one to call her an Alicia Keys for grown-ups. While the mood of this record stagnates after a few songs, it does give a strong indication of Jones' alluring talents.

While they have taken a different approach with each album, Opeth has a very distinct and instantly recognizable sound: somber, mysterious, and very serious. Their style falls at a meeting point between melodic Swedish death metal and '70s progressive rock, though without any of the technical busyness that description might imply. Morningrise is, as far as the metal scale goes, possibly their least heavy album; it also contains their longest songs -- just five of them, ranging in length from ten to 20 minutes.

The tracks all take their time developing, shifting back and forth from full-on metal sections (marked by distorted dual guitar riffs and growling vocals) to calm, acoustic guitar-based passages with more softly sung vocals. These shifts happen much like scenes changes in a movie, as there is very little repetition within the songs, and there are sometimes distinct pauses separating one section from the next. In fact, given the strongly narrative lyrics (which primarily revolve around the subject of a lost lover), the tracks here could best be described as miniature audio movies.

This is a very painstakingly put-together album, and listeners will have to have some patience in order to mentally piece it all together. Some will be turned off by the long songs and the cold, gray atmosphere the album gives off, but for those who are on this band's wavelength and willing to show some patience, this album will repay many, many repeat listens.

Common Sense with Dan Carlin is an independent look at politics and current events from popular New Media personality Dan Carlin. Carlin's self-described "Martian" viewpoints infuse each episode with a political alien's take on the world around us and the problems it faces. It's a smart, unique (and admittedly U.S.-centric) program that doesn't dumb down the information or analysis for the slowest person in the room.

Carlin's rapid-fire staccato voice has been compared to William Shatner after too many espressos. That, plus his penchant for making everyone in the audience mad at him eventually, makes for a witch's brew of a podcast that is not for everyone. But for those craving a deeper intellectual analysis, a less partisan approach and unpredictable outside-the-box revelations, Common Sense with Dan Carlin is a feast for the mind.

I enjoy it because he is neither right wing or left wing, and indeed, he calls them both out for their questionable moves with equal fervor.

This is supposed to be in my wheelhouse, but it's not really setting me on fire by any stretch. There's even guest spots by James Labrie and Andi Deris. Not bad, but not terribly exciting after a couple of listens.

I've always enjoyed Zak with Savatage and C2C, but I cannot get into this. The sound is terrible, way too fat on the bottom end, drowning most everything out, and it just turns into a dirge. I can't make it through the album, so the end may be fantastic, but I just can't get there.

Bad intel on the prerelease, so I'm out a studio track (booooo) and a couple of live tracks (meh). A fair amount of sell out complaints on this. It does seem somewhat generic, but just the first couple of listens for me. Seems there was more twiddly bits on Scream Aim Fire (earned them a Japanese band score) and Fever. Not bad, might grow on me with some commuter duty.

Using this to test any sound system's capabilities. I've used it on the Sony Z1000, Sansa Clip+ with a variety of headphones/IEMs. Just got speaker stands yesterday and using this to compare differences (pre speaker-stand), if any.

Over the past decade, Steven Wilson's relationship with prog rock over has grown increasingly intimate. He previewed a killer new band on the live album Get All You Deserve -- woodwind/multi-instrumentalist Theo Travis, keyboardist Adam Holzman, session bass and stick player Nick Beggs, drummer Marco Minnemann, and guitarist Guthrie Govan -- put a diverse, sophisticated face on Wilson's 21st century brand of prog. The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories is their first studio outing.

Wilson was also able to coax Alan Parsons out of semi-retirement to co-produce and engineer the effort, and he fully committed: the album's crystalline, detailed sound and spacious ambience reflect some of his best work behind the boards. The result is a collection of six new songs -- three over ten minutes in length -- that reflect the very best of what classic prog rock aspired to: skillfully written music with expertly arranged compositions of color, nuance, texture, dynamics, narrative, and artfulness played by a group of stellar musicians. The songs are based on short stories Wilson wrote or co-wrote with Hajo Mueller, which center around the supernatural -- though this is not actually a concept record.

While the album begins with a warning sign --- the first four minutes of opener "Luminol" are a knotty, driving, near-fusion instrumental workout that gives way to a complex, beautifully wrought mini-suite that draws on sources such as Pink Floyd, early Genesis, and King Crimson -- the Mellotron was actually used on the latter's classic recordings. While "Drive Home" builds gradually with a near-majestic sweep of harmonic and lyric invention, it features wonderfully inventive guitar work by Govan. "The Holy Drinker" is a sprawling ride with excellent keyboards by Holzman, a smoking guest guitar spot by Parsons, and a dazzling soprano saxophone from Travis. It commences intensely with many angles simultaneously but never once loses its musicality.

"The Watchmaker"'s intro of lilting, layered, acoustic guitars takes on heft as the ensemble enters with furious bass and drum work, and a gorgeous flute solo by Travis. The increasing drama includes death metal riffing, syncopated vocal choruses, and a flood of strings that never overdo it. The title track is the set closer, a lush, straightforward number about an old man speaking to his long-dead sister. His loneliness and grief are heartbreaking in Wilson's vocal expression, before strings, Mellotron, winds, and rolling drums build to a final, dramatic conclusion.

The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories is the best of Wilson's three solo projects; let's hope this particular group stays together awhile. In terms of musical possibility, the sky is the limit with this bunch.

Fistful of guests on all fronts, kind of a hard rock/metal all stars. I saw Kelly Hansen, Ray Gillen and said I'm in, but just one song each, and 1/2 the album's tracks are instrumental. The surprise was Cherie Currie. Loved hearing her again. So it's kind of uneven as these things go, but not bad.

Proably the best Stratovarius album in a loooonnnggg time. So that's not really saying much. Timo K sounds solid (if not particularly adventurous), and there are definitely some poppier elements incorporated, but normally they're pretty short lived, and the hooks make it more accessible immediately.

Not a bad effort from these guys, but this one's mired in a mainly mid tempo olde school AC/DC roots rock kind of vibe instead of the halcyon days of headhunter,the blitz & change of address. Not that that's a big surprise lately.

Amazon released the thing at 9.99 to everyone first and then immediately lowered the price to 7.99 which was kind of a price guarantee dick move though.

I've been looking for this CD for at least three and a half years. Local HMV is clearing out and they somehow had one of these.
Next up: We Were Soldiers. Although Quebec being Quebec, I'll probably never find one.

Arriving Somewhere... is the first live performance DVD by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Disc one is a full show from the Deadwing tour filmed by "Studio M" with nine High Def cameras[4] at Park West, Chicago on 11 and 12 October 2005, edited by Lasse Hoile, with the soundtrack mixed in stereo and 5.1 surround sound by Steven Wilson, and mastered by Darcy Proper.

Disc two includes live performances on the German television show Rockpalast, a promotional video for "Lazarus", the live films used as the backdrop for three songs, Gavin Harrison's "Cymbal Song", and a photo gallery with over 100 images. The soundtrack to the DVD is available in FLAC and MP3 formats from the band's download store since April, 2007. This audio edition is in the top 10 of the "Top Albums of 2007" chart of Rate Your Music website.[5]